GeoOp to raise $2.4M in private placement to fund Australian growth, SPP to follow

GeoOp, the workforce management app developer, will raise $2.4 million in private placement to foreign investors, senior management and the board to help fund the company's expansion in Australia.

The Auckland-based company will sell 5 million shares at 48 cents apiece to a group of investors, with the funds raised going towards beefing up its team in Australia, GeoOp's biggest customer market, it said in a statement. The investors include a small-cap value fund in Australia which will become one of GeoOp's biggest shareholders, other unnamed investors, chief executive Anna Cicognani and some other senior managers, and all five of the companies directors.

The investors will also receive one warrant for every three shares bought, which will be exercisable on three dates before and including Oct. 31, 2016, at 48 cents apiece, which would provide GeoOp with a further $800,000 of new capital if exercised in full. The placement was the maximum allowable under NZAX listing rules that didn't need wider shareholder approval.

"We are very pleased to have introduced new long-term and supportive shareholders to provide the foundation for the next phase of Geo's growth," chairman Mark Weldon said. "This provides external certification that Geo has a significant market opportunity, a strong product, a sound strategy in place and the board and management team to execute."

Last month, GeoOp said it plans to apply to NZX to leave the NZAX and join the stock market's main board, having earlier flagged plans to raise new capital.

GeoOp plans to make the same offer to existing investors through a share purchase plan, and will provide more details later.

The shares last traded at 43 cents, and have gained 16 percent this year. The company raised $10 million at $1 a share in a private offer before listing on the NZAX in October 2013.